Proxemics
- LAST REVIEWED: 19 September 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 31 August 2015
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0168
- LAST REVIEWED: 19 September 2018
- LAST MODIFIED: 31 August 2015
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0168
Introduction
Proxemics refers to the perception, use, and structuring of space as communication. The study of proxemics is multidisciplinary, with scholars in fields such as anthropology, architecture, communication, linguistics, psychology, and sociology, among other fields, all making important contributions. The multidisciplinary nature of research on proxemics is appropriate given that space is a ubiquitous part of most human interaction. Space is not only physical, as reflected in the amount of space between people or in the layout of a room and the arrangement of furniture; it is also psychological, with people from different social and cultural groups perceiving and using space differently. The literature reflects the ubiquitous nature of proxemics by focusing on how space functions in different contexts. Early work on proxemics often focused on how culture or the environment shape proxemic communication. From the literature in these areas emerged concepts such as personal space, interpersonal distancing, territory, and crowding. Scholars have also examined how proxemics functions in interpersonal relationships, small groups, and computer-mediated communication, and how it is used to send messages related to persuasion and social support.
General Overviews
There are several excellent sources for general information on proxemic communication. Going back to some of the seminal works that helped launch the study of proxemics can provide insight into the reasons why proxemics was first deemed an essential part of human communication. Textbooks provide easy access to summaries of both classic and contemporary work on proxemics.
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Article
- Activist Media
- Adherence and Communication
- Adolescence and the Media
- Advertisements, Televised Political
- Advertising
- Advertising, Children and
- Advertising, International
- Agenda Setting
- Annenberg, Walter H.
- Argumentation
- Attitude-Behavior Consistency
- Audience Fragmentation
- Audience Studies
- Bakhtin, Mikhail
- Bandwagon Effect
- Baudrillard, Jean
- Bourdieu, Pierre
- Brand Equity
- British and Irish Magazine, History of the
- Broadcasting, Public Service
- Castells, Manuel
- Celebrity and Public Persona
- Censorship
- Civic Duty
- CNN
- Codes and Cultural Discourse Analysis
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Collective Memory, Communication and
- Comedic News
- Communication Apprehension
- Communication Campaigns
- Communication, Definitions and Concepts of
- Communication History
- Communication Law
- Communication Networks
- Communication, Philosophy of
- Community Attachment
- Community Structure Approach
- Computer-Mediated Communication
- Content Analysis
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Communication
- Crisis Communication
- Critical and Cultural Studies
- Cross-tools and Cross-media Effects
- Cultivation
- Cultural and Creative Industries
- Cultural Imperialism Theories
- Cultural Persuadables
- Cyberpolitics
- 3D Media
- Death, Dying, and Communication
- Debates, Televised
- Deliberation
- Developmental Communication
- Diffusion of Innovations
- Digital Divide
- Diplomacy, Public
- Distributed Work, Comunication and
- Documentary and Communication
- E-democracy/E-participation
- E-Government
- Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Embedded Coverage
- Entertainment
- Entertainment-Education
- Environmental Communication
- Ethnography of Communication
- Experiments
- Family Communication
- Federal Communications Commission
- Feminist Theory
- Focus Groups
- Freedom of the Press
- Gatekeeping
- Gender and the Media
- Global Englishes
- Goffman, Erving
- Habermas, Jürgen
- Habituation and Communication
- Health Communication
- Hegemony
- Heuristics
- Hostile Media Effect
- Identification with Media Characters
- Image Repair Theory
- Implicit Measurement
- Impression Management
- Indexing
- Infographics
- Information and Communication Technology for Development
- Information Management
- Information Overload
- Information Processing
- Infotainment
- Innis, Harold
- Instructional Communication
- Integrated Marketing Communications
- Interactivity
- Intercultural Communication
- Intergenerational Communication
- Intergroup Communication
- International Communications
- Interpersonal Communication
- Interpretation/Reception
- Journalism
- Journalism, Alternative
- Journalism and Trauma
- Journalism, Citizen
- Journalism, Citizen, History of
- Journalism Ethics
- Journalism, Peace
- Journalism, Tabloid
- Knowledge Gap
- Mass Communication
- McLuhan, Marshall
- Media Activism
- Media Aesthetics
- Media Bias
- Media Convergence
- Media Credibility
- Media Dependency
- Media Ecology
- Media Economics
- Media Economics, Theories of
- Media, Educational
- Media Effects
- Media Ethics
- Media Events
- Media Exposure Measurement
- Media, Gays and Lesbians in the
- Media Literacy
- Media Logic
- Media Management
- Media Policy and Governance
- Media Regulation
- Media, Social
- Media Sociology
- Media Systems Theory
- Merton, Robert K.
- Message Characteristics and Persuasion
- Mobile Communication Studies
- Muckraking
- Multimodal Discourse Analysis, Approaches to
- Murdoch, Rupert
- Narrative
- Narrative Persuasion
- News Framing
- NGOs, Communication and
- Online Campaigning
- Organizational Change and Organizational Change Communicat...
- Organizational Communication
- Parasocial Theory in Communication
- Participation, Civic/Political
- Perceived Realism
- Persuasion and Social Influence
- Persuasion, Resisting
- Political Advertising
- Political Communication, Normative Analysis of
- Political Economy
- Political Knowledge
- Political Marketing
- Political Scandals
- Political Socialization
- Polls, Opinion
- Priming
- Propaganda
- Proxemics
- Public Opinion
- Public Relations
- Public Sphere
- Radio Studies
- Reality Television
- Reasoned Action Frameworks
- Religion and the Media
- Reporting, Investigative
- Rhetoric and Communication
- Rhetoric, Religious
- Risk Communication
- Schramm, Wilbur
- Science Communication
- Scripps, E. W.
- Selective Exposure
- Semiotics
- Sense-Making/Sensemaking
- Sesame Street
- Sex in the Media
- Small-Group Communication
- Social Capital
- Social Change
- Social Cognition
- Social Construction
- Social Interaction
- Social Movements
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Protest
- Sports Communication
- Stereotypes
- Strategic Communication
- Surveillance and Communication
- Tabloidization
- Telecommunications History/Policy
- Television
- Television, Cable
- Textual Analysis and Communication
- Third-Person Effect
- Time Warner
- Transmedia Storytelling
- Two-Step Flow
- Uses and Gratifications
- Video
- Video Deficit
- Video Games and Communication
- Violence in the Media
- Visual Communication
- Web 2.0
- Web Archiving
- Whistleblowing
- WikiLeaks
- Youth and Media